BTCC

Andrew Jordan “Really Enjoying” WSR BMW After Early Tests

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Andrew Jordan said that he expects to have an ‘enjoyable’ season behind the wheel of the West Surrey Racing BMW in the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

The 2013 BTCC champion moves to WSR for the coming season having claimed the Independents’ Championship for Motorbase Performance in 2016, clinching two wins on his way to eighth overall in the final standings.

The 27-year-old was enthused by his early outing in the BMW 125i at Brands Hatch towards the end of 2016, but admitted also that he is thoroughly enjoying his time behind the wheel.

“I want to get straight in and get going now”, an eager Jordan told The Checkered Flag at Birmingham’s NEC Arena during the Autosport International Show.

“We had a really good test just before Christmas; got to know the car and got to know the team which was good, plus the team are working hard on developments to try and move the car forward.

“It’s a really tough championship to try and win, but I’m going to enjoy it. I enjoy my racing and I love driving, so when one day it stops, I don’t want to look back on it and think ‘oh, I didn’t enjoy doing that’.”

Although familiar with rear-wheel drive machinery in his career, Jordan was brimming following his initial experiences behind the wheel of the BMW 125i, airing a sense of enjoyment to his driving ahead of 2017.

On his early feeling of a RWD touring car, Jordan enthused “I loved it. It was great fun!

Photo: West Surrey Racing

“I really, really enjoyed driving it. I’ve driven quite a few different RWD cars but not touring cars. I still felt comfortable and it was a nice experience in the car.”

Jordan said it will be once again difficult to call the pecking order of the coming season, but he expects WSR to challenge for both the championship and race victories consistently.

“We’ll challenge, we’ll win races – that’s the plan. We need to be consistent and hopefully, in fact I’m sure we’ll challenge come the final round.

“There’s lots of developments and little things going on. We’ve got a new engine, so hopefully that goes well and it’s obvious that the car handles very well. The days before Christmas we also got some good data about the new tyres for the guys, so we’re really looking forward to it.

“Honda will be [competitive], Subaru will be, Jackson in the Ford and many more mean there’ll be lots of competition.”

Photo: West Surrey Racing

Jordan was also eager to partner with WSR boss, Dick Bennetts, saying “he’s done such a lot. He’s got lots of cool stories but you can see he’s always thinking. I like that. I think we’ll get on very well.”

The switch to WSR from Motorbase was one that also made sense from a marketing perspective for Jordan and his long-standing sponsors, Pirtek.

“When we knew that Shredded Wheat were coming onboard [at Motorbase], I knew there wasn’t really a home for Pirtek so there was a lot more into it. I’ve been with Pirtek since 2005.

“It’s something I’m proud of, to see them now on a WSR BMW.”

Fans can catch a glimpse of Jordan’s BMW at the Dunlop stand across the remaining three days of the Autosport International Show between 13-15 January.

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